Joe Simpson makes the list again with The Sound of Gravity

Victorian high-altitude murder, desert rockclimbing and the lasting legacy of the Second World War on Polish mountaineering are among the varied subjects of books on the shortlist of this year’s Boardman Tasker Prize.

Five works were announced today by chair of judges Barry Imeson for the outdoor version of the Man Booker Prize.

Joe Simpson, best known for his 1988 Boardman Tasker winner Touching the Void, an account of near-death in the Andes, is on the list again with a novel, The Sound of Gravity.

Ian Smith’s Shadow of the Matterhorn is a biography charting Edward Whymper’s journey from apprentice engraver to celebrated mountaineer and explorer.

Desert Towers by Steve ‘Crusher’ Bartlett, is an illustrated history of climbing on the sandstone pillars of the Colorado Plateau, while Bernadette McDonald’s Freedom Climbers tells the story of how Polish climbers emerged after the Second World War and the rigours of the Russian occupation to dominate high-altitude climbing.

Murder in the Hindu Kush by Tim Hannigan, is described by judges as a ‘page-turning story of George Hayward’s impressive explorations in the western Himalaya and the conflicting stories surrounding his murder in the Hindu Kush’.

The winner of the award will be announced in November during the Kendal Mountain Festival. He or she will join a past list of luminaries who have won the £3,000 prize, including Andy Kirkpatrick, Jim Perrin, and Andy Cave.

The award commemorates the lives of climbers Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, who died on Everest in 1982. It is made for an original work with a central theme of mountains, which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.

Judges for 2011 are Barry Imeson, Bernard Newman and Lindsay Griffin.